The Bully and the Boss
by Fallen Corona
Summary: (AU; InuKag) As children, Inuyasha enjoyed making Kagome's life miserable--but what happens when the tables are turned when she ends up being his boss 7 years later?
1. The Silver Haired Bully

THE BULLY AND THE BOSS

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**Summary:** As children, Inuyasha enjoyed making Kagome's life miserable--but what happens when the tables are turned when she ends up being his boss 10 years later?

**Author's Note: **I just simply couldn't resist NOT writing this idea down. Some inspiration came from 'My Boss's Daughter' but most of it came from the reality of bullies who pick on my brother, and a certain story from the Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul I or II...I forget. Many thanks to PinkStarz with the summary--I just added a few words ;) Go check out her Yu-Gi-Oh fic, "With the French Maid in Kaiba's Room". It's an amazing Seto/Serenity fic! ^_^

**Fiction Note:** Inuyasha doesn't have LONG silver hair...he has SHORT silver hair, like, up to his shoulders...and no ears either! Sorry to all the Inuyasha-lovers out there...but in my story, there's no hanyou...

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**~ Chapter One ~**

**The Silver-Haired Bully**

"They only pick on you because they like you," Mr. Higurashi constantly reminded his distressed daughter, who came home from school every afternoon with wet spitballs stuck in her hair; tears pouring from her eyes. She was a popular target for a certain silver-haired bully and his friends, who always threw spitballs at her from behind when they followed her home.

There really was no reason why the bullies decided to make her their top choice to verbally abuse. She was pretty, kind, popular, and was friends with nearly everybody. Everyone loved her; she was never rude on purpose. Of course, there were times when she lost her temper, but she was never the cruel spreading-evil-lies-about-someone type.

The girl was none other than 13-year-old Kagome Higurashi, who was always bullied by the short silver-haired kid who was a year older than her; Inuyasha, along with his 'back-up' buds, Miroku, Kouga, and Naraku.

Kagome hated them. She hated all four of them. They always picked on her because they thought it was funny. She was always taught to never make anyone feel small just to make herself feel bigger, but it was exactly what *they* were doing. The worst thing about it all was that they were actually popular at school, and girls loved them because they were the good-looking and rich guys.

Inuyasha was a stuck-up show-off, who always thought he was the best. Miroku was a follower. He and Inuyasha had been best friends since kindergarden, and Miroku did whatever Inuyasha did... Kouga was the 'new' kid, who came in grade six. He was a loner at first and admitted having a crush on Kagome. When she didn't feel the same way about him, he joined forces with Inuyasha and decided to make her life miserable. Naraku was probably the meanest next to Inuyasha. He was the one who came up with all the 'plans' to torture poor Kagome.

Before grade 5, though, Inuyasha and Kagome were generally friendly to each other. They were not friends, but they weren't enemies. Inuyasha seemed too brutal for Kagome. They didn't say 'hi' when they saw each other in the mornings, but they did say 'excuse me' instead of 'move out of the way'. They *did* apologize to each other for small things, like accidentally flicking a pencil at their head (as Inuyasha did to Kagome once when he wasn't paying attention in class).

But one day in the middle of the school year in grade 5, the relationship between Inuyasha and Kagome changed from "he/she's my schoolmate" to "he/she's my enemy".

It happened during recess, when Kagome was surrounded by her usual group of friends. Inuyasha was playing quite dangerously playing basketball but it turned into a 'dribble the basketball while leaping over fences' game. When Inuyasha got hold of the ball, he ran away with it with Miroku chasing after him. He was leaping over the fences which were the borderlines between the kindergardners and the older grades, while dribbling the basketball at the same time.

Inuyasha was a daring kid, and didn't really pain when he was supposed to. He was running too fast and lost control of dribbling the basketball, and tripped over it, and fell right in front of Kagome and her friends. Kagome immediately rushed to help him up. His face was red in embarrassment, and said he didn't accept help from brainer goody-2-shoes. She had wondered if he always looked at her as what he said she was--a goody-2-shoe.

Inuyasha and Kagome left each other alone after that. But one day, Kagome was rushing home from school in a terrible mood. She was afraid that she would lash out at anyone who talked to her, so she ran home quickly and decided to lock herself in her room until she had calmed down.

But on the way, she saw Inuyasha and his usual gang--and when she ran past them, Inuyasha accidentally tripped her. His friends laughed, and Kagome totally threw a temper tantrum, being in the terrible mood that she was in at the time. Inuyasha seemed to think getting her mad was funny, because after that, he did it more often on purpose.

Inuyasha always had a smirk on his face when Kagome came up to him, shouting in rage at him. She was used to Inuyasha and his friends following her home and throwing spitballs in her hair, and snickering behind her back. She was also used to hiding her tears until she got home. She was starting to consider that this was harassment, and when she told her parents, all they could reply with was, "They only do that because they like you."

But they were *wrong*. These guys were different. They were tormentors who enjoyed seeing other people in bad moods and purposely getting them mad. They thought it was funny when they felt terrible about something.

In grade 7, they all moved onto Junior High School. Kagome had her first boyfriend there; a nice, young boy named Hojo who was shy but equally as kind as Kagome. Her friends always giggled when Hojo came near; they thought he was quite handsome and complimented Kagome that she was lucky to have him.

But the torture from Inuyasha and his friends didn't stop there. Kouga was in Kagome's history class and he always chose to sit right behind her, where he could silently whiz spitballs into her hair. Kagome wanted to prove she wasn't a teacher's pet, so she never told the teachers once. The other students always hid their laughter and tried their hardest to pay attention.

After school, Inuyasha and the gang continued to follow Kagome home. Half the time she walked with Hojo, and Inuyasha made comments like, "Why do you go out with a nerd?" and "I guess you could only get your kind--dumbasses!". That was when something unexpected happened. Kagome whipped around and swung her hand as hard as she could across Inuyasha's cheek. Everyone--including her--was surprised.

"Get a life, you bastard." Kagome muttered angrily, and she and Hojo walked away.

A few months later, Kagome and Hojo broke up. It was the perfect time for Inuyasha to rub it in.

"What happened, is your own kind not good enough for you?" Inuyasha sneered as he and his friends stalked her after school. Half the time, Kagome remained calm and wanted to prove that all of their jerking-around and bullying wasn't doing anything, so that they might give up, but they didn't. As hard as Kagome tried to look like she didn't care, she couldn't fool Inuyasha.

And she vowed that someday, she will...someday, she'll make *him* look like the fool...

~~~~

"What?!" Kagome exclaimed, eyes widening fearfully. She looked up at her mom and dad, who had just made this astonishing announcement.

"We're moving. Far. And you will have to move schools. Now, I know you might be upset--"

"Oh, my God!" Kagome jumped up from doing her homework with frightened and an overwhelmed look on her face.

"--but there's no need to worry...two of your friends will be moving there next year too--Sango and Eri. Many families are moving to that new area, including them. It has a shopping mall near there so I won't have to go far to go grocery shopping, and it's closer to your father's work. Souta's school isn't that far from there, so he can still go to his school, but your school's too far from there, Kagome...you'll have to change schools." Her mother explained, with her hands folded and trying to remain calm, waiting for her daughter's response.

"Mom," Kagome said, and stood up. "That is the *best* news I have received in my life! I can *finally* move away from that *jerk* of a jerk, Inuyasha...I'll be free! Finally freeee!" Kagome yelled in a sing-song voice and danced around lamely around the house.

The news of Kagome spread in the school like wildfire. Surprisingly, she wasn't sad to leave the place where she knew her many friends for over 8 years since kindergarden. She was sure she'd make new friends in her new place, and plus, her two best friends were going there. And best of all, she'd get away from Inuyasha.

When Inuyasha heard this, of *course* he had to plan something special for Kagome on her last day...

~~~~

Weeks passed quickly. Kagome had her whole house packed in boxes, and she couldn't believe that this very day was the last day she would ever spend at her Junior High School. But thankfully, today would also the last day when Inuyasha and his gang would stalk her, spitting spitballs in her hair.

Inuyasha had a plan to make this the most memorial day for Kagome, since it was her last day. When he went to school that day, he also had a video camera inside his bag. He was planning to tape a fake conversation of people talking bad about her, and try to make her upset--but somehow, he had a feeling that Kagome would know it's fake. But it was worth a try...

"It's working," Miroku spoke up as he turned the video camera off. He, Inuyasha, Kouga, and Naraku were in the cafeteria during their lunch hour. Kagome and her usual group of friends at the very back of the cafeteria; their usual spot. But Kagome had more than just her friends surrounding her--it was predictable that since it was her last day here, many people were trying to be friendly before she left and they'd never see her again.

"So what's the plan?" Kouga asked.

"We have to tape a conversation where people are talking shit about her. It'll work better if her friends do it, but they probably won't..." Inuyasha mumbled, tapping the floor with his foot.

"A conversation..." Naraku said. He stared into space for a while, and blinked. "I have an idea. But you have to get Kagome away from her friends."

~~~~

When the bell rang, the students left their trays on the table and didn't hesitate at all to quickly run out of the cafeteria to go outside. Kagome and her friends stood up to leave, and Inuyasha and his gang made sure they followed her quietly so she wouldn't notice them. They were waiting for a chance when Kagome would leave and her friends would be left alone.

They followed Kagome and her friends everywhere outside as they were milling and chatting around the school field area. Just when Kouga was about to go up to create a 'diversion' to get Kagome by herself, she had gone into the school building--alone--to go to the bathroom.

Seizing this opportunity, the four of them quickly ran up to five of the girls whom Kagome was with. They all turned around and gave the four of them a strange what-are-you-doing-here look.

"Um...aren't you Inuyasha?" One of the girls, a brunette, asked, who was a little startled to see a very popular boy in school randomly come up to them.

"Yeah, you know, me, Miroku, Kouga, and Naraku," Inuyasha said, pointing to each one of them as he said their names. "Anyway, that's not why we're here. We need to get this done *really* quickly. We're making a movie, and we need you girls in it." He explained.

Inuyasha hated how these girls were just staring at him without blinking. It was creeping him out, and he wished they would answer quickly before Kagome came back.

"So...are you girls up for it? Or do we have to go find another group of five who's nice enough to help us out...?" Inuyasha asked, rolling his eyes in his half-sweet voice.

"No! Of course we'll do it...right, girls?" The brunette asked, turning to face her friends.

"So...where's Kagome, isn't she usually with you? I heard she's a good actress, she was in last year's drama play..." Inuyasha said, to make this sound less suspicious.

"She went to the bathroom for a second. So, girls, we're up for helping Inuyasha out with his movie, right?" A redhead asked.

Three of the girls nodded in agreement and smiles on their faces, but a raven-haired girl was giving a very chilly glare at Inuyasha.

"Just a second, Rina. You, Inuyasha--what do we have to do for this? Is there a catch?" The raven-haired girl spoke up, crossing her arms and looking quite darkly at Inuyasha's gang.

"Sango, how could you say that?" The brunette said.

"No, there's no catch. It's just a movie; we're going to edit it later to make it look more realistic..." Naraku added in, noticing Sango's suspicion.

"So, what do we have to do? Do we get paid?" A chirpy blonde asked.

"Okay..." Inuyasha said, and glanced at his friends before turning back to the girls. "What you have to do is...just pretend that there's this girl you really, really hate...and she does bad things to you. This is a scene where a group of girls is just talking bad about that mean girl. Say stuff like...'She thinks she's the best and it pisses me off' or something like that. Got it?" He said.

The girls nodded.

"And you *don't* get paid," Kouga added in, shaking his head impatiently.

"Have enthusiasm, make it look like there really *is* a girl you hate and you're talking shit about her right now." Inuyasha explained, and lifted up his video camera. He unfolded the small attached screen on the camera and turned it on. The image of the five girls standing in front of them showed up in the small screen.

"So, does this girl have a name or something?" Sango asked in a cold tone.

"No--I don't know, just don't mention a name." He lifted up his video camera and turned it facing the five girls. He focused the image and nodded. "Okay, you can start...now."

Sango didn't look too thrilled about this at all. In fact, she suspected Inuyasha and his gang to be up to something, so when Inuyasha told them to start, she silently slipped away, not wanting to be a part of whatever this was. She had a feeling it was something *bad*.

"Doesn't she just bug you?"

"The way she walks, talks, looks, listens..."

"No, just the way she *stands*. I just want to go up to her and slap some sense into that girl!"

"She is *such* a teacher's pet. Okay, last year, I had this crush on this guy...and she stole him away! She started going out with the guy, and...she is such a backstabber. I wish we could do something to her!"

"Let's jump her after school!"

"No way, that's too cruel, Rina..."

"The worst thing about it is that she thinks everyone likes her..."

Miroku, Kouga, and Naraku smirked to each other as Inuyasha folded back the attached screen against the video camera, and turned it off. He, too, had a wide grin on his face.

"That was perfect." He complimented.

The brunette frowned. "Just that? Well...that was really short."

"We're gonna edit it, so it'll seem like it's longer. You helped us greatly, young ladies," Miroku said, and flashed his even, white teeth at them.

"Psst," Naraku hissed in Inuyasha's ear. "Kagome Higurashi at 1 o' clock!" He nodded his head towards the figure which looked like Kagome, who was coming out of the school building.

"Alright, thanks girls!" Inuyasha said. "C'mon, let's get outta here!" He said, and the four of them started to run.

Sango kept a glare on her face until the four figures disappeared from their sight around the corner.

~~~~

This was probably the longest walk that Kagome had ever walked--the distance between her school and her home that she would very soon be leaving. This was probably the only walk that Kagome had really looked at the trees in front of the houses that were neatly lined up. She felt like she was leaving the earth as she walked along the sidewalk as the cars drove slowly past her on the road.

Kagome didn't really think she would feel a bit sad to leave the place that she had known for more than a decade. She looked up to see the autumn leaves falling off of the trees, and it was then when it hit her that she would not be here with her friends at school when winter came. Their tradition of making one special snowball and hiding it until winter was almost over wouldn't happen, because she wasn't going to be here.

She sighed and put her hands in her pockets, trying to think positively. The new community she was moving into had a good reputation. The school there had just been built, so probably most of the kids would be new also, and she wouldn't be the only one who was nervous or worried. Plus, Kagome would have a chance to meet new people. She was sure that the place she was going to move to was going to be just fine.

Was she going through some weird feeling she had never felt before? Kagome looked up at the sky and had never noticed how blue the sky was, and how clear its light reflected through the atmosphere. She blinked softly and knew she was going to miss something that so regularly happened after school...but she couldn't quite put her finger on it what it was...

Kagome shook her head. No...she *wasn't* going to miss Inuyasha and his gang's daily spitball routine...or was she? Kagome knew that her heart was beating faster than usual, and she was scared of what she was feeling.

"Yo, Kagome!"

A sharp voice had interrupted her thoughts, and she turned around to see who it was. She groaned when she noticed that Inuyasha and Miroku had run just around the corner and was chasing after Kagome. All of her feelings disappeared in less than a second when she caught the sight of Inuyasha and Miroku. She was happy that this would be the last time they would come up behind her, snicker behind her back, and throw spitballs in her hair...and never again, will she have to endure this...

"The normal spitball thing, huh? Go ahead, I don't care anymore." Kagome muttered furiously, looking at the road from the corner of her eyes.

"Not this time," Miroku said.

"What?" Kagome asked, looking up at them. "And where's Kouga and Naraku--?"

"They're busy," Inuyasha said quickly--a little *too* quickly. "Anyway, listen. We know today's your last day, so we decided to save you the trouble of having to have spitballs in your hair today. Besides, my tongue hurts from poking a straw down my throat everyday."

Kagome frowned. Okay, this wasn't how Inuyasha acted reguarly...something was up.

"And also, we wanted to make it a little bit easier for you." He added in.

"Um...make *what* easier for me?" She questioned, totally confused and lost.

Inuyasha held up his hand and rattled an expensive-looking video camera. "This," he said. "Miroku and I were just...walking around, and we were out to capture footages of cool shoplifts that happen around town. But we stumbled upon your friends...and at first, we just wanted to spy on them with the camera, but their conversation was rather..." He looked at Miroku and grinned.

"Interesting," Miroku finished, nodding his head.

"My friends? What did they say? Show me!" Kagome demanded. The curiosity had gotten the best of her.

"I don't know if you *want* to see it...they said some pretty bad shit about you." Inuyasha warned, but there was a tone in his voice that told Kagome that he was lying.

"Just show me, don't tell me you came all the way here just to tell me you have footage of my friends talking bad about me and not actually show me?" Kagome asked, making an impatient motion with her hands.

"Inuyasha, just show her...it's her fault if she goes home crying, not ours." Miroku urged.

Inuyasha sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, whatever." He lifted up the video camera and unfolded the small screen. He pressed the 'ON' button, and pressed 'PLAY'. He gave it to Kagome, and she held it firmly, holding it up high in the air. An image came on the small screen. It was four of her friends, Rina, Hotaru, Kari, and Eri. They were standing and talking...

_"...now."_ A male voice said. Miroku looked with shock at Inuyasha, but Inuyasha brushed him off by slightly shaking his head.

_"Doesn't she just bug you?"_

_ "The way she walks, talks, looks, listens..."_

_ "No, just the way she *stands*. I just want to go up to her and slap some sense into that girl!"_

_ "She is *such* a teacher's pet. Okay, last year, I had this crush on this guy...and she stole him away! She started going out with the guy, and...she is such a backstabber. I wish we could do something to her!"_

_ "Let's jump her after school!"_

_ "No way, that's too cruel, Rina..."_

_ "The worst thing about it is that she thinks everyone likes her..."_

Then the image went blank, and Inuyasha took his video camera back, adjusting it. Kagome was too shocked what she had just heard. She never knew that her friends had felt that way about her.

"Um...what was that 'now' at the beginning of the video?" Kagome asked in a trembling voice.

"That was me," Inuyasha spoke. "Miroku and I were wondering around and when we saw your friends, I was like, 'Hurry up, they're talking right now' and I decided to record it...and show you, since you're their 'friend' and you should really know what they think of you."

Kagome was absolutely crushed at what she had seen, and heard. All of them were bugged by her. Hotaru thought she was a teacher's pet. The only guy who Kagome went out with last year was Hojo--and Kari never told her that she had a crush on Hojo. Rina wanted to jump her after school. Hotaru said that she thought everyone liked her--which she did think for all this time.

"Are...you sure this was them?" Kagome asked. Her voice was shaky.

"No, it was aliens disguised as them." Inuyasha answered sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

Kagome didn't know what to feel right now. These were her best friends--and they thought so bad about her...she didn't know *what* to feel...

So she cried. She burst out sobbing and covered her face with her hands, and just started to cry in front of Inuyasha and Miroku. Kagome didn't care if she was embarrassing herself in front of the two bullies; all she could think about right now was what she had seen on Inuyasha's video camera.

Miroku nudged Inuyasha's arm and snickered quietly. But all Inuyasha could do was watch as the girl he bullied for years cried, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for her...that he didn't pull this prank...he actually felt *pity* for the helpless girl crying in front of him...

"Hey, are you--" Inuyasha started, but his sentence was cut off when he suddenly found himself forced to fall onto the pavement sidewalk.

"Hey, what'd you do that for, you bitch?! Inuyasha, you alright?" Miroku said.

When Inuyasha looked up, he found Kagome's hand in the air, ready to strike again. Her eyes were teary, and her face was red.

"You--" She grumbled, and a tear strolled down her cheek.

Inuyasha just continue to stare at her, doing nothing to defend himself. He wasn't even getting up. Kagome raised her hand to slap his face as she had done so the first time, but Miroku grabbed her arm.

"Are you crazy, you--girl? What did he do?!" Miroku shouted, and he let go of her arm.

"You've *always* made my life miserable, Inuyasha! You and your stupid gang, stalking me home, and spitting spitballs in my hair--do you know how many times I came home crying because of your stupidity?! I'm *never* going to forget this--and someday, someone will pick on you the way you did to me, and you'll know exactly how I feel!" Kagome shouted angrily. She turned around and started to run down the sidewalk.

"Man, are you okay?" Miroku said, helping him get up.

"Yeah...what a bitch," Inuyasha mumbled. But at that moment, he felt something he never felt before--guilt.

~~~~

**a/n****:** So how was that for the first chapter? ^_^ Oh, and those who watch the subbed version of Inuyasha from Anime-Kraze, they stopped subbing it. It's a very cruel April Fool's joke. When I first read it, I literally screamed. But then I was like, 'Right, today's April Fool's Day...' LOL, now watch them really _have_ stopped subbing it--oh, don't jinx it, Annie, don't jinx it...


	2. The Black Haired Boss

THE BULLY AND THE BOSS

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**Author's Note**: Hey, I was relieved with all the reviews I got--especially all the encouragements ^_^ Thanks so much! I at least know there are some people out there who want to read this, so this chapter is for all you guys who reviewed for the previous chapter! You know who you are! ;) Oh, and *yes* I do read all the reviews...they all come to me in email :)

Oh, and don't ask me how a 19-year-old can be the manager of a fast-food restaurant. Let's just pretend that Kagome went to college right after high school and worked *really* hard ^_^;; Hey, what would I know about what happens after high school? I'm only 14; I'm still in elementary school in grade 8!! ^^;;

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**~ Chapter Two ~**

**The Black-Haired Boss**

Kagome slowly took out the papers from the large orange envelope and looked through it. She shook her head and put them back into the envelope. All of the job applications were the same. They wrote the same thing that didn't catch Kagome's attention very well.

'I think I'm different from the other people who apply for this position because...'

Because they were right for it. Because they were perfect for the job. Because they would give 100% focus for the job.

They wrote gibberish that Kagome wasn't really interested in. It was more like half the people who applied for jobs were applying to Harvard University. This was a WacDonald's, for God's sake! It didn't need 100% focus. It was just a job to take people's orders, give them their food, and smile at the end and say, "Have a great day."

Kagome let a sigh escape her lips and leaned back against her comfy office chair. Besides having to read at least over God-knows-how-many applications a day, there were positive things about being the manager of WacDonald's around the corner of her home. She was paid well, her very own office was close to her house so she didn't need a car and forced to pollute the world, and half the time she and her friends had free meals.

The WacDonald's where she worked in was large. There were two floors, and on the second floor, there was a private section for the staff, and the office was deep in the building. Her office was comfy and nice, and Kagome brought many of her things to keep in her office to make herself feel at home. She had photos of her family and friends hanging on the wall, and also had a few of her stuffed animals that she kept for a long time in the corners.

Having this job, Kagome knew that she would have to use her money wisely. Every time she was paid, about half of them were to save up for university, and the other half was to spend it freely or help her mom with the house bills. Kagome had already graduated from college and ended up being the manager of one of the most popular fast-food restaurants in the world, but she wanted a diploma and get a better job in which she would both be paid a lot and enjoy doing.

Kaogme leaned forwards over her desk and picked up the paperback book that was on the corner of her desk.

"The Biography of Kikyou, written by Hido Jakradi..." Kagome read aloud, and stared at the photo of the popular singer and archer, Kikyou. She studied the way she looked. Her skin complexion was perfect and flawless. Her eyes gave off a signal of friendliness and were like looking at the dark, endless night sky. Her bright pupils and iris were like the stars of her night-sky eyes, and Kagome let out another sigh as she realized that she was envying this perfect and graceful woman.

Kikyou was what every woman wanted to be. Her success in the music and the sports business made all the guys drool over her. Her official website had over 500 000 hits a day. Her generosity was known throughout the whole country. She donated half of her earnings every month to help different charities.

Kagome adored Kikyou, yet hated her at the same time. She was extremely jealous that she had all the guys' attentions, that she was the richest woman in the country, and that she was *rich*. She didn't have to save up for university--heck, she didn't even need to go to university with the amount *she* was getting. All Kikyou had to do was sing one line from 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and millions of smiles would form on people's faces--and singing the whole lyrics would make over a billion people smile. That was the kind of power and impact she had on others.

Kagome placed her elbow on the desk and laid her head on the back of hand and stared into space. She started to contemplate her own life compared to Kikyou's. She had something Kikyou didn't--her privacy. She could run around the street naked from a dare and not have anyone but her friends laugh at her, and only a few people on the streets with raised eyebrows. Besides, Kagome was happy with her life. Happy with the job she had. Soon, she would be out of managing WacDonald's and follow her dream--to be a writer or a teacher. She had plenty of time for that.

After all, she *was* only nineteen years old...

_*Miss Higurashi, Kagura is outside your door to see you.*_ A voice from the intercom on her phone said, startling her thoughts.

"Alright, thanks. Let her in, Yamaki." Kagome spoke into her telephone intercom, and looked up at the door. She tucked a bit of her long black hair behind her ear and quickly put on her reading spectacles. She pulled out the job applications she was reading earlier and started to re-read them, watching the door from the corner of her eyes.

"Miss Higurashi, I checked the recent stats, and our sales--well not sales, but you know what I mean--it's going down!" Kagura burst through the door into Kagome's office, and she was taken by surprise that she jumped up slightly on her chair. Kagura was a jumpy and hyper young woman. She was *always* pessimistic about things.

"This graph clearly states--" She shoved a complicated graph under Kagome's nose and slapped it on the job application she was reading. "--that this restaurant's stats are decreasing. We are losing *customers*, Miss Higurashi, and unless you can just hire new people--look at all those job applications, there has to be at least one person you want to hire today!" Kagura shouted in an annoyed tone, and pointed to the large pile of orange envelopes.

"Yes, but not all of them are eligible." Kagome answered simply, looking up at the jumpy young woman, who was almost ready to pull her hair out.

"No, no, *no*! Not even one?! This *isn't* a college, Miss Higurashi--just hire some people around the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, although the limit is sixty...but the restaurant's customers are mainly teenagers and they don't want icky food that old people touched. I know these things, Miss Higurashi; I was a teenager not too long ago." Kagura said and took a deep breath after talking so fast.

"Yes, although it's quite hard to believe..." Kagome muttered under her breath sarcastically.

"Pardon, miss?" Kagura asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion with her arms folded.

"I said it's quite hard to believe that teenagers are picky about who makes their food these days." Kagome lied in a calm tone, and looked down at the graph that Kagura had shoved under her nose. She didn't want to show her spark of panic, but Kagura *was* right. Her restaurant's monthly customer stats were decreasing.

"I just came to show you, ma'am. Hopefully you'll choose to hire at least *one* person today." Kagura answered. She took the graph back and walked out of the office, and closed the door behind her with an irritated sigh.

Kagome shook her head and frowned after she had left. That woman was *too* pessimistic at times. She put away the job application and randomly took another one from the pile. She pulled the papers from the envelope and moved her eyes from side-to-side while skimming through the description of the question she was intrigued by the most, 'Why do you think you are different from all others who apply for the job?'. The answer was below what she had expected. In fact, it was the worst application submitted.

Kagome slowly moved her eyes to the top of the paper. Her eyes widened in shock when she read the name of the person who had submitted the application.

No, shock wasn't the word to describe it. She was stunned. Thunderstruck. Dumbfounded...

But then, a small, devious smirk formed on her face.

~~~~

Inuyasha turned the key in the lock and opened his apartment door and stepped inside. He took off his jacket and threw it aside and took off his shoes. He placed his keys in the little 'hook' that Naraku had installed. That boy was just too organized; always trapping himself in his room building things. He couldn't see why that Naraku could just get a job in being some sort of technician.

"Hey, man. Any mail?" Inuyasha called to Miroku, who was in front of the TV. He went into their small kitchen and took a can of coke and popped it open.

"Yeah, there was like...six hundred. I threw 'em all out. Useless junk to the people who used to live here." Miroku answered. He blinked and took his eyes off of the screen and stood up. "Except this one." He held up a white, professional-looking envelope and waved it in the air.

"That's the one I'm looking for. Pass it here," Inuyasha said. He took a quick gulp from the coke and placed it on the table. He walked towards him and swiped it from him. Quickly, he used his fingers to rip the envelope into shreds instead of opening it neatly. He took out the letter that was folded from the envelope, and read it aloud.

"'Dear Mr...yada yada yada...where does it say I'm hired--?" Inuyasha's eyes skimmed fast through the letter. "Here it is...'Your job application has been read by the manager of WacDonald's, and we are sorry to say that you have been rejected. Sorry for any inconvenience.' What the hell?!" He shouted.

"Means you weren't hired," Miroku said, sitting back down on the couch. "Too bad...where are you planning to apply next?"

"This is so retarded--the person who gave me the application sheets said that there are 1 in 2 chances that I'll be hired! And it's not like *you*--" Inuyasha threw the papers aside at his friend. He jumped up in surprise. "--have any part-time job to help pay for any of the rent. We're gonna kick you out to live with your mom if you don't start coughing up some cash to help us out."

"Hey, hey--I don't need a job. My old man's *the* assistant of the richest man in the world--Jikashi Iku!" Miroku exclaimed, waving the remote control robotically in front of Inuyasha.

"Jikashi Iku doesn't exist, you dumbass." Inuyasha said, grabbing the remote from his hand. He clicked on the ON/OFF button and the TV shut off, leaving Miroku with his jaw open. "You watch too many soap operas. They're for girls. Your old man's a con artist, in case you forgot."

"Give me that," Miroku argued, taking the remote control back and turning on the TV again. He placed his elbows on his legs and leaned forwards on the couch to view the TV screen closer.

"And where the hell is that Kouga?!" Inuyasha shouted. His temper, as it always did these days, was rising, and being rejected from a job he applied for wasn't helping.

"He went to buy more of those TV dinners," Miroku answered in the same boring, android tone. His eyes remained focus on the screen, endlessly watching the problem rising between Jenna and Hikari who had both slept with Ted--but in fact, Hikari had slept with Ted's evil twin brother and was now pregnant with a demon child who would grow up to be the most evil man, continuing his father's job to destroy lives by taking advantage of love.

"Stupid soap operas, you gotta stop watching them...they're taking over your brain..." Inuyasha muttered under his breath, and walked away. He sighed and put his jacket back on and stuffed his keys inside his pocket. He was just about to open the door, but it flung open by itself with Kouga holding two full grocery bags.

"Where've you been?" Inuyasha asked, frowning.

"I went to buy two months worth of TV dinners for you lazy asses," Kouga growled, and passed Inuyasha into the kitchen.

"You better not be referring to me as a lazy ass--I'm the one going around town trying to look for a part-time job, here. Miroku's just sitting on his flat ass on the couch watching stupid soap operas." Inuyasha pointed out, coming back in again behind Kouga.

"This place reeks of dogs, have there been dogs in here?!" Kouga shouted furiously, standing behind Miroku. Then, his eyes calmed. "Oh, right, I forgot I live with *you*," he said, turning to face Inuyasha.

"What the hell are you saying?" Inuyasha snarled. He curled up his fists and looked at Kouga threateningly.

"Never bother to clean this place up, do you? I'm the one who always buys food for this lazy-ass group--and I get this in return? Living in a dumpster with a robot watching soap operas, a dog who goes around desperately looking for a job and expects to get hired with freakish silver hair, and a guy who traps himself in his room planning to take over the world! I might as well just walk out on you *things* right now, and see how you survive..." Kouga grumbled, shaking his head.

Suddenly, Kouga felt himself getting pushed against the wall. His feet left the ground and slowly moved his eyes to look down. Inuyasha had pushed him and was holding him up against the wall by his collar, and was snarling at him viciously.

"Now, you listen to me. Miroku may look like he's not doing anything, but his pops gives us half of his earnings from conning idiots who actually fall for his stupid scams. Naraku takes huge risks by selling fake drugs to idiots who hooked themselves onto them. In case you've forgotten, he was shot twice and survived. He got shot to pay half the rent. And I'm trying here, to look for a job to keep myself in this place. There are people here who'd rather not be with their idiot parents. If you're not one of them, why don't you leave? We'll do fine without you," Inuyasha said, and let go of Kouga and he fell on the ground with a thud.

"Fine," Kouga muttered as he got up. He dusted off his shirt and glared at Inuyasha, heading for one of the bedrooms. Inuyasha stood in his way.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.

"I'm getting my stuff; now get out of my way, dog." Kouga growled.

"I don't think so. As far as I know, you didn't come here with anything, and you're leaving without anything. Get out of here...you wolf." Inuyasha said.

"What the hell did you just call me?!" Kouga snapped at him.

"I called you a wolf, now get out. Have no idea why the hell you¡¯re so pissy this afternoon, but if you're gonna act like that, you're not wanted here." Inuyasha walked over to the door and opened it, and motioned with his head for him to leave.

"I'm glad I won't be staying here with you bastards. Watch you all die of starvation next week," Kouga said, and passed Inuyasha and left. Inuyasha swung the door, hard, and it closed with a huge whack. Even with the door closed, he could hear Kouga's angry mumbling down the hall.

"Stop fighting, you two--Ted's making his decision whether he wants to stay with Jenna or Hikari!" Miroku yelled, apparently not really aware of what was going on in the background.

~~~~

Kagome sat in boredom, spinning her pen with her fingers and blowing the layered front hairs up that came down in front of her eyes. She sighed and leaned back against the chair and spun around.

'Another boring day of work...another day to try and hire a decent person...' Kagome thought. She yawned and pulled out an orange envelope. She was beginning to dislike this job. Half the work had to be done at home, and when she was actually at work in the actual building, she had to look at all the job applications. Her secretary Kagura and other staff also looked at job applications and they didn't have such high expectations, so at least 2 people were hired a day.

However, it was rare to have just one person hired by Kagome a month.

"Miss Higurashi, the board contacted us today--look! They said you have to hire at least 4 people a month and lay down at least 2 really bad workers. You haven't hired *anyone* this month!" Kagura slammed down a letter from the board onto Kagome's desk. She looked at it, and read through the letter. She sighed.

"I looked at almost all of the job applications from yesterday and I could tell that not one of them was even interested in making a good impression on the applications. That says a lot, you know--lazy slobs with acne, taking people's orders and saying 'Ba-da-ba-ba-ba, I'm lovin' it' in a *boring* tone--and that's not even WacDonald's slogan! Is it?" Kagome asked, looking up at Kagura through her small glasses.

"No, ma'am, that's McDonald's. Justin Timerlake's your idol, how can you not know that?" Kagura asked, shaking her head as if she had not known the most obvious thing in the world.

"Justin Timberlake is *not* my idol. I don't even like that kind of music, it's kiddish." Kagome answered.

"Whatever. Anyway, oh right--before I forget, someone filed a complaint on our restaurant." Kagura said.

"What?!"

"Not on our food, but on its service...of jobs. Someone by the name..." Kagura looked down at her clipboard and skimmed through her papers. "...by the name 'Inuyasha Herik-Jikradi' filed a complaint saying that...um, I think you should actually read his complaint. It was filed yesterday." Kagura unclipped one of the papers from the clipboard and gently laid it on the desk as if it was a fragile piece of glass.

'Dear whoever hell the boss is,

Your restaurant sucks!

That lady who gave me the application said there's one in two chances of getting the job.

How did I not get the job?! What did I say wrong? I want to know!

If I don't get a reply in a day or something, this complaint will be filed further!

-Inuyasha'

Kagome frowned. Inuyasha was still a jerk as ever, as she remembered him to be. Did Inuyasha know that the girl he used to bully around was the manager of the restaurant? No, he didn't know...or else his letter wouldn't have sounded so full of himself.

And then, that same devious smile formed on her face.

"Kagura, this person who filed the complaint--you said his name was Inuyasha?" She asked.

"Yes...why?" Kagura questioned, with her eyebrows raised.

"Inuyasha also submitted one of those job applications, correct? Get him hired with the time he wanted." Kagome ordered, and started to put all of her papers on the desk together.

"Of course, ma'am, but why the sudden decision...? With your obsession of the perfect application, why hire the person who filed a complaint against us?" Kagura asked curiously, with a slight smile.

"Oh, nothing, nothing...it's just that this person seems very feisty and determined--you know those stubborn kind of people who will do anything they want or will do anything to prove themselves right...it's exactly the kind of model we need at our restaurant for some customers' attentions." Kagome explained. With the neatly piled papers, she handed it back to Kagura with a hidden smile.

~~~~

"That Kouga is pissing me off--half of the mail is from him telling us off! Miroku, you're responsible for the mail, clean it up!" Inuyasha shouted furiously. He was in a bad mood since the day he found out he was rejected from WacDonald's--he was *never* rejected. Half the time, he quit his job because he felt that the pay wasn't enough. No one told Inuyasha off and got away with it.

Inuyasha wasn't the only mad one in the house. Miroku seemed in be in a bad mood also, because recently his favourite soap opera had been canceled just before Ted had a chance to find out that he had an evil twin brother who got Hikari pregnant with a demon child. He had never been in a sourer mood. He had stopped checking the mail and didn't bother to pay his share of the rent. He usually wandered around in the streets in the evenings and came home tired.

Naraku had also recently decided to move out of the apartment, for he no longer wanted to take risks just to pay the rent of the apartment. He moved in with his little brother, Hakudoushi, who was still in his first year of college.

So it was just Miroku and Inuyasha. Out of the four bedrooms they had, two were empty and were used to store their 'junk' in. It was even harder now to pay the rent with two people gone, and Inuyasha was desperate for a job...

...until he checked the mail himself.

"Stupid Miroku..." Inuyasha mumbled angrily through gritted teeth, throwing out all of the mail that were stuffed in their tiny mailbox in front of the apartment door. He went through every single envelope just in case there was any mail for *them*. Only about one in five letters were for them, and the rest were for the people who used to live here. And the letters that were for them was just stupid offers and subscriptions that they no longer had the money for.

"What the hell is this?" Inuyasha asked himself as he came across a large orange envelope. His eyes were glued upon it and slowly walked towards the couch in a hypnotized motion, and sat down. With his fingers, he ripped open the large envelope and pulled out a bunch of business papers.

"Dear Mr Herik-Jikradi...we are extremely sorry about your first job application..." He read, and browsed through the letter to the bottom. "We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted, and you have been hired as a part-time worker as an advertiser?! What the hell is this, I applied for french-fry maker!" Inuyasha exploded, suddenly standing up on his feet.

"Be happy you got the job at least," Miroku mumbled as he came out of the kitchen with a can of Coke.

"You're right--but ADVERTISER?! What if I have to wear one of those stupid costumes and stand outside in the streets?" Inuyasha asked, looking through the bunch of papers and forms.

"Didn't you apply to WacDonald's?"

"Yeah..." Inuyasha answered absent-mindedly, reading through the forms.

"They don't have those kind of advertisers. I think you have to make up catchy slogans and stuff...or something." Miroku took another gulp from the Coke.

"Let's see...'Your job will begin on April 13th, after Easter Weekend at 11:30 AM to 6:00 PM. Your paychecks will be given to you weekly or monthly, however you choose. We hope to see you at our clean-service WacDonald's! Sincerely...' Oh, dear God." Inuyasha's insides froze and he forgot how to breathe. He stood very still, holding the letter, and stared at the name of the manager.

"What?" Miroku said, coming up beside Inuyasha. He peered over his shoulder. "Sincerely, the Manager of WacDonald's, Kagome Higuras--oh, shit...I know that name anywhere...grade 6, Shikon Elementary School, the girl we bullied--oh shit, I'm glad *I'm* not working there...good luck, man." He said, and patted Inuyasha's back and walked back into the kitchen with a slight smirk.

Inuyasha's body was frozen in that standing motion, just staring at that name on the newsletter flabbergasted. Dumbfounded. *Stunned*.

~~~~

**a/n****:** Sorry I took long to update...I'll try to be faster. So, do you know where this is going? ;) Oh, and I'm wondering if anyone watches the subbed version of Card Captor Sakura, I watch Inuyasha from anime-kraze.net, does anyone know where I can download the CCS *SUBBED* episodes? Oh, and don't ask how I got Inuyasha's last name...I was just thinking of any gibberish -_-;


	3. We Meet Again

**THE BULLY AND THE BOSS**

********

**Author's Note**: Sorry to update in such a long time...my internet was down for a *very* long time, and I had to wait quite a while before I got it back. Let's see...Mother's Day is coming up and I badly need suggestions on what to get my mom...I think flowers, but they sorta die easily if anyone noticed...

Oh, and yes, WacDonald's *is* real--at least in Inuyasha. If you notice, Kagome's friends Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi always hang out in a little fast-food restaurant called WacDonald's that's very similar to McDonald's ^_^

****

**~ Chapter Three ~**

**We Meet Again**

            Oh, today was going to be the most interesting day that she ever had during work. Besides having one of her staff, Nanako, complaining about how Kagome had hired Inuyasha without an interview, she was looking forward to this day. This day was Inuyasha's first day of work, and the first time Kagome would see him in *years*.

            Kagome had many things planned for Inuyasha as her restaurant's advertiser. To pay him back for all the things he had done to her in elementary school, she had designed a certain costume just for Inuyasha and ordered it. It had come in just in time for Inuyasha's first day of work.

            She was working on some paperwork until Kagura came in, looking preppy and chirpy as ever.

            "Ma'am, I think it's Inuyasha that's here...he's causing a bit of mayhem for our customers downstairs..." Kagura said, and bit her lip as she looked at Kagome with a serious look through her small glasses that she only had once in a blue moon. When Kagura, the chirpy, obsessive, and pessimistic had a serious frown on her face, then the situation *must've* been serious...

            Kagome sighed and stood up from her office chair and followed behind Kagura. This was it...this was going to be the first time she'd see Inuyasha in years...

            Kagome raised her head up high and fixed her professional-looking glasses. She brushed off any dust that was on her black suit and skirt, and stepped down the stairway behind Kagura making 'click' noises with her heels.

            "There he is," Kagura said in a sharp voice, and pointed at a silver-haired young adult with her pen. Kagome frowned her eyes as her eyes were set on Inuyasha. He didn't look any different, except he was taller. His hair was exactly the same; silver, silky, and up to his neck--and he was fighting with some gangsters outside the restaurant.

            Inuyasha was standing in front of three people who were obviously older than him. He pushed one of them, and one of them pushed Inuyasha, and he fell onto the pavement sidewalk. He got up and started shouting. Kagome couldn't hear what he had said, but it had ticked off the three people--they started to swing their fists at him. Kagome put on a look of disgust.

            "What the hell is he doing?" She shouted furiously, and some people who were eating raised their heads to look. One woman glared at her and stood up, and took her young daughter's hand and left the restaurant.

            "Ma'am, perhaps you shouldn't speak like that in public--" Kagura whispered.

            "What's he doing out there, telling off thugs?! That'll encourage people to stay away from our restaurant! I'm going to put a stop to this," Kagome growled. She took off her glasses and put on her angry look, and passed the tables and the anxious stares from other people. She pushed the glass door out of her way and stood in front of the entrance of WacDonald's, with her arms crossed and an icy glare formed on her face.

            "What do you people think you're doing? If you must have this fight, take it somewhere else at another time! You, get in there!" Kagome yelled, pointing at her restaurant and looking enraged at Inuyasha. He gave her a revengeful look and pushed his way inside, and the three people snickered at him and walked away.

            "Stupid..." Inuyasha muttered as he walked into the restaurant.

            Kagura's eyes widened as she held on firmly to her clipboard in her arms. "Ma'am, should I--?"

            "No, I will," Kagome added quickly, with a flash of anger in her eyes. She walked past Inuyasha to the back counter, and when he wasn't following, she turned around and shouted violently, "Well, are you coming or not?!"

            "I'm coming, I'm coming...geez, who's on PMS today?" Inuyasha growled angrily, and followed Kagome. The two of them disappeared into the back, leaving some adults with their children with strange frowns on their faces. Kagura sighed dejectedly and put her head down, and walked up the stairs.

            "Just *what* did you think you were doing outside? You're giving a negative image of our restaurant, with those gangsters in front of it!" Kagome yelled.

            "Calm down, you damn woman! You act as if I tried to break in here!" Inuyasha yelled back. He wasn't scared of this girl. Just because she was his boss now, didn't mean she could exactly boss him around like his slave. He was still taller, older, and stronger.

            "If you do *anything* like that, you're fired. This is your first and your last warning." Kagome threatened through gritted teeth, pointing her index finger at him.

            Inuyasha was taken aback. Kagome had *never* talked back to him like this before. She sure did change in seven years...

            "Oooh, fiesty." He shot back, rolling his eyes.

            Kagome sighed in frustration. She turned her back on him and walked towards a large cabinet, and took out a *very* weird costume.

            "Oh, shit--don't tell me that I--"

            "Yes, you do. As an advertiser, you have to wear this, and also sing a little jingle to it. Won't it be fun? Some of my friends would kill to have this job," Kagome explained with a smile, holding up the ridiculously lame hamburger costume.

            "What?! Why do I have to wear it--and sing?" Inuyasha shouted angrily. He wasn't ready to embarrass himself on his first day.

            "Because you applied for a 'visual' part of the job. There was a multiple choice question on the application if you wanted a visual, service, or a janitor job. You chose visual. Quite surprising, really, seeing that almost every application I get, it's always service...of course, they'd rather be cashiers and making burgers rather than singing a stupid song with this costume or walking around with a mop cleaning the place..." Kagome explained, and started to pick on loose strings of the costume.

            "I changed my mind, I want service."

            "Too late now. Also, here are the lyrics to your song." Kagome said, and dug into her skirt pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She handed it to Inuyasha, who swiped it from her with a glare. He opened it, and read the lyrics out loud:

            "'Put a smile on, put a smile on, everybody come on...WacDonald's is here to serve only you, come with children and grandparents too...put a smile on, put a smile on, everybody come on...' This is so retarded." Inuyasha said, looking up at Kagome's smug face from the paper.

            "I know. But rules are rules. You're going to walk up the street in this costume singing that, and get people's attentions." Kagome said. Inuyasha hated that devious smile on her face. He just wanted to shake it out of her, but he had to be careful, she was his boss...

            "You know what? Forget it. This is so retarded, I'm not going to do this, I quit." Inuyasha said, and threw the paper in the air and walked away.

            "How will you pay your rent? Did you have any luck getting accepted at any other jobs you applied for?" Kagome asked in a false sweet voice, with her arms draped over her shoulder.

            Inuyasha stopped, and turned around. "And how the hell would you know?" He asked, trying to hide it as if it was something to be shameful for.

            "Usually, people who are 20 or over who apply to crappy jobs such as working for WacDonald's are usually living in an apartment or somewhere where you have to pay rent, and always have trouble getting accepted into different jobs because they were a drop-out in high school and doesn't have the educational standards to apply to better jobs, such as a computer specialist for a bank or something." Kagome said.

            Inuyasha blinked in confusion.

            "It means you're not smart enough to get into better jobs, so you're stuck with stupid jobs like these low-class ones. It's good for me, though, a manager of a successful fast food restaurant usually gets a good deal of money. Plus, I get free fries sometimes." Kagome added a smile, but a pitiful smile.

            "I'm only doing this for today," Inuyasha growled furiously as he swiped the costume from Kagome's hands.

            "Nope. Forever, until you quit or get dismissed from this job." Kagome answered, shaking her head.

            "A year."

            "5 months."

            "2 months.

            "4 months."

            "A week!"

            "3 days."

            Inuyasha contemplated this deal, and grinned. "Fine, deal. 3 days."

            Kagome shrugged, with the smile still on her face. "Fine, after 3 days, you can do service work." She said. 'It's still worth seeing you embarrass yourself for three days than nothing.' She thought evilly.

            ~~~~

            "Mommy...I'm scared!"

            "It's okay, honey, it's just a singing burger..."

            "PUT A SMILE ON, PUT A SMILE ON, EVERYBODY COME ON!" Inuyasha was yelling more than singing, and he and Kagome had reached a decision that he can wear dark sunglasses to hide his face. In Kagome's opinion, she didn't care if Inuyasha felt embarrassed and no one knew it was him--she just wanted him to feel embarrassed.

            "With more enthusiasm!" Kagome yelled from her office window, as she looked down at Inuyasha who was walking up and down the street. Many people seemed to be avoiding him with weird glances at him, and she knew he wanted to die right now, which just amused her even more.

            "Hey, screw you! You can't tell me how to sing!" Inuyasha shouted across the street, waving his fist at Kagome.

            "Watch your language; I can fire you for that!"

            "Now you're just blackmailing me! You can't fire me for not singing right!"

            "I can, for you yelling across the street and cursing at me in front of little kids and concerned parents!" Kagome said, and couldn't help but snicker under her breath a bit. A woman walked past him, giving him the coldest look that Inuyasha has ever received in his life, holding a little boy's hand.

            Inuyasha put his arm in front of him, which to Kagome assumed that he was trying to flip the finger at her but she couldn't see it because he was wearing a fat burger glove. She smiled sweetly and waved at him.

            "Yes, I *know* it's a nice day outside, Inuyasha!" She yelled, and closed the window and the curtains.

            ~~~~

            "No way--Inuyasha, that old bully from elementary? He's working for *you*?"

            "Yup."

            "Inuyasha?! As in, that silver-haired dude always hanging out with Kouga, Naraku, and Miroku?"

            "Yup."

            "No way..."

            "I know."

            "No way! Kagome, you can torture him with all the things he did to you...when I found out what he did with that video recorder filming us acting a part in his 'movie'--it pissed me off so much, but I couldn't confront him, he had all these guys backing him up...and also, after you left, there were rumors about you putting a fake image and being preppy..."

            "Sango, it's alright now. It's the past. Besides, I'm having fun watching Inuyasha singing a stupid jingle in the lamest costume I have ever seen." Kagome spoke into the phone, and looked out the window. Inuyasha seemed to be getting bored, and more embarrassed than ever. She snickered.

            "For real? Kagome, if I were you, I'd give that boy the most difficult time of his life..." Sango said, and trailed off into silence.

            Kagome sensed the oddness in Sango's tone, and asked, "Sango...? What's wrong?"

            There was silence between them for a while.

            "Gizo and I broke up." Sango answered.

            "You mean *he* dumped *you*." Kagome corrected, and sighed into the phone.

            "Yes, well, I sort of--" There was a blocked silence. "--hold on a sec, someone's on the other line...oh, Kagome, it's Gizo on the other line. Can I call you back?" She asked hesitantly.

            "Um, sure," Kagome stammered, before the two of them hung up. She placed the phone down, and heard someone come into her office.

            "Don't I get a break or anything?!" Inuyasha demanded, taking off the head part of the costume.

            "No," Kagome answered simply. "And next time you come into my office, you *knock* first. And who told you that you could get off your shift?" She glared.

            "This is stupid. You wouldn't embarrass yourself wearing a lame costume like this for a small fee, would you?" Inuyasha said.

            "No, I don't have to. And you get greater fees as you get promoted, too. So don't think I pay cheap money for people who embarrass themselves. I pay them quite well, mind you."

            "You can get promoted in *advertising*?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief.

            "Sure, from a burger costume to a milkshake one." Kagome said, as she put away her paper files in the right drawers in her desk.

            "I'm only doing this for three days, remember?" He reminded.

            "Yeah, I know. But during those three days, you're going to have to work as the advertiser you applied for. Now, go back to work!" Kagome ordered in a snappy voice.

            Inuyasha growled.

            "If I didn't need the money, I'd quit," he mumbled in a snarling voice.

            "Uh huh--what?" Kagome asked, paying more attention to her files than to Inuyasha.

            "I said I would quit if I didn't need the money! This is retarded. You and I both know why you're torturing me like this on purpose. People are allowed to switch from 'visual' to 'service' anytime...I checked on it," he lied. Inuyasha took off the burger gloves and whipped them against Kagome's desk. "Fucking costume..."

            Kagome, however, remained calm. She had her hands folded on her desk and leaned in close to blink at Inuyasha through her spectacles. "Unlike you, Inuyasha, I don't let what happened in the past get in the way of professional business. I am here to run a restaurant, and you are here to work for me as you applied so. I am also here to pay those who work for me with respect. If you do this again, you'll be fired. You're rude, disrespectful, and noisy in front of my customers. Now leave." She said, and made a motion with her hand for him to get out.

            "Hey, you might as well fire me right now because I'm not going to get all polite, sweet, and kind just to keep this job. Don't you *ever* think you're the boss of me, woman. Maybe you should take the time to realize why people hate you so much. You're bossy and rude yourself, not to mention bitchy and act as if you're on PMS all the time. Maybe that's why your friends thought so badly of you," Inuyasha shot back, and threw the head of the costume to the side. He took off the rest of the ridiculous costume, and fixed his shirt and walked towards the door.

            "Where are you going?!" Kagome shouted, standing up.

            "Home! My shift is over!" Inuyasha yelled back, and slammed the door closed.

            Kagome was left in pieces. She sat motionless, staring at the exact spot where Inuyasha stood without blinking. What he had said to her kept running over her head repeatedly...

            ~~~~

            The next day, Kagome dreaded going to work, knowing that she would have to face Inuyasha. She wished she could just fire him after the vicious argument he started yesterday, but she was too scared to. She was scared because her old fears were coming back; Inuyasha bullying her and making her feel ashamed of herself...

            **

             "You're bossy and rude yourself, not to mention bitchy and act as if you're on PMS all the time. Maybe that's why your friends thought so badly of you!"

            **

            Kagome squinted her eyes closed and shook her head. She gasped as she quickly opened her eyes to see that she had almost hit another car. She sighed and kept her hands on the driving wheel and focused on the road. But no matter how hard she tried to concentrate, those words kept echoing in her head.

            'No...don't think like that! You have power over *him* now! You're his boss,' Kagome firmly told herself over and over again. But all she thought about Inuyasha was a rude little boy who would follow her home after school with his crew, spitting spitballs in her hair and mocking her.

            "Hey, watch out!"

            Kagome screamed as she sharply turned her car to the corner and felt something hit against her car, and force it to spin around twice. She felt her hair flying and landing in front of her eyes, and felt slight bruises on her arms. Her hands were still on the driving wheel, but when she opened her eyes and raised her head up, the front glass window of her car was shattered. There were bloody scratches on her arms and her hair was a complete mess.

            "Are you alright? You drove past the intersection too fast when it was a red light for you--"

            Kagome turned to the side to stare at the light brown-haired man who stood beside her car with a concerned look. She sighed and opened the car door and stepped out of her car, holding tightly onto her purse.

            "I'm--I'm fine, just a few scratches and bruises--oh, my God!" Kagome screamed when she came out of her car. Her family's red, shiny car was completely in ruins. The glass windows were broken, the car had dents and scratches, and the backlights were broken.

            "Don't worry, miss, the insurance company will take care of your car." The man said, smiling.

            Kagome sighed. That wasn't the problem, but her parents were going to *kill* her for this...

            "Do you need to go to the hospital?" The man asked, offering a hand.

            Kagome looked at him strangely before she answered, "No, I'm alright. I just have to get cleaned up, but my car--"

            "--will be taken care of by the insurance company." The man finished.

            Kagome frowned at him. He was fairly annoying, but in a nice way. He seemed awfully familiar, though...

            "Hojo?" Kagome said, leaning in close to him with narrowed eyes. "Is that you?!" She exclaimed.

            The man blinked in confusion. "Yes, why--"

            "It's me, Kagome! Kagome Higurashi, remember?" Kagome said excitedly.

            "Ka--ah, yes! I remember you, of course. How fateful we met like this!" Hojo said.

            "I don't know about 'fateful', but it's really nice to meet you after so long! How have you been doing?" Kagome asked politely. 'Get ready for his life story...' She told herself.

            "I've been doing fine, I work in a bank, it's quite nice there. The pay is great, and my boss told me if I keep up the great work, I'll get promoted sooner than she thought. And you?" He asked.

            "Same, same...I own a fast food restaurant a few blocks down, but it's only a temporary job. I'm saving up money for another scholarship, and then I want to be a writer...but first, I want to travel and I need lots of money for that." Kagome said, nodding hesitantly.

            "That's nice...are you settled down and..." Hojo said, trailing off and turning red.

            "Settled...down?" Kagome repeated with a frown. It took a few seconds to understand what he had meant. "Oh! You mean settled *down* with a family and stuff? Oh, no...I haven't even been on a date in years...I'm rather busy and there are unfinished things to do here and there..."

            "I see...well, I'll call someone to sort of clean up this mess for you...and maybe you should go to the hospital for a check-up just in case, but after that do you want to grab a bite to eat? I haven't had breakfast--"

            "Oh, actually, I'm sort of feeling...um...a bit dizzy and..." Kagome interrupted, thinking fast. "I-I was--just--I was--on my way to work!" She yelled a little too loud. But it was the truth.

            "Oh," Hojo answered disappointedly. "Maybe next time?" He asked.

            "Uh--sure," Kagome said. 'Don't ever try to see him anywhere else again,' she told herself.

            "So, where's your restaurant?" Hojo asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

            "Um...it's WacDonald's, the one with the kids' indoor playgrounds...the one near Tedville Street [*made up]..." Kagome stammered.

            Their conversation soon came to an end when they both heard police sirens. Kagome tried to look unsuspicious as two policewomen came out of their police cars with notepads and pens, with their handguns clinging onto their belt. One of them went around inspecting Kagome's car, while one came towards Kagome and Hojo.

            "Are you the victim of this car crash?" The officer asked.

            "Um, yes," Kagome stuttered, taking her lock of dark hair behind her ear.

           "I'm Officer Wendy. It doesn't look too badly like you're hurt, but do you need to go to the hospital?" Officer Wendy asked, pushing her long blond hair behind her shoulders.

            "No, no...I'm fine." She said nervously.

            "If you're sure, then. How did you get into this car crash?" The officer asked.

            "I was speeding a bit and I had a lot of things on my mind...you know, work stress and all...I sort of sped past a red light, and I crashed against the car of this man, but he wasn't hurt at all..." Kagome said, pointing to Hojo's silver car, which had a few scratches but wasn't as badly damaged as Kagome's car.

            "Hmm..." Officer Wendy mumbled, jotting down on her notepad. "You just admitted to speeding past a red light. I'm going to have to charge you for that," she said.

            Kagome looked disappointedly and half-angrily at her. "But--I--"

            "If you were paying attention to the road and didn't speed, this wouldn't have happened." She said, still looking at her notepad instead of at Kagome.

            "No, it wasn't her fault, officer. It was mine. It was a red light for me, actually, and I was the one speeding. This woman's kind of all...stressed out, I don't think she even remembered what happened." Hojo interrupted.

            This caught the officer's attention. She raised her head up to look at him and frowned. "Are you sure?" She asked.

            Hojo nodded.

            "Not many people like you admit to this kind of thing..." She said again.

            Hojo shrugged.

            Officer Wendy looked down on her notepad again. "Alright...then, I'll have to give you a ticket, mister...sorry for making the mistake, miss." She took out a pad of yellow papers from her back pants pocket and scribbled down on it, and ripped off a sheet and handed it to Hojo. "Your money is due by the date listed on the ticket. If you go to court, the price due will be raised." She explained.

            Hojo took the yellow paper and read over it. He nodded.

            "Meanwhile, I'm sending you to the hospital whether you feel fine or not. You're going for a check-up just in case," Officer Wendy said.

            Kagome sighed. She wondered how Kagura was going to take this back at work...

            ~~~~

            "She's been in a *what*?!" Kagura exclaimed, dropping her clipboard and shouting into the phone. "NO! What?! Is she okay, what's wrong, where is she, when's she coming back--?"

            "Don't worry, miss--! She's fine, and she's been checked out of the hospital a few hours ago. The doctor insisted that she rest at home for a bit."

            "Um, alright, thank you Nurse..." Kagura said, and hung up. She sighed and picked up her clipboard again.

            "What happened?" Inuyasha asked, hesitating to put on his costume.

            "Never you mind. Come on, get out and do what you were hired to do! Don't waste any time!" Kagura said enthusiastically, clapping her two hands together.

            "If she's not gonna be here, doesn't it mean I don't have to do this? I can take a day off too if she is," Inuyasha complained.

            "Kagome is sick right now! She's in pain; she's just been in a car accident! You, on the other hand, is perfectly healthy and eligible to--"

            "Ugh, alright. Cut the crappy lecture, I'm going!" Inuyasha put on the huge head of the costume and marched out of Kagura's office.

            ~~~~

            Sango sighed and removed the dried cloth from Kagome's forehead, and dipped it in the small tub of hot water.

            "It got cold again..." She mumbled.

            Kagome flickered her eyes open and moved her eyes to gaze at Sango. "You don't have to do this," she spoke in a quiet voice.

            "I have nothing else to do at home." Sango answered. She twisted the cloth to drain all the water from it into the tub, and folded it neatly and placed it on Kagome's forehead again.

            Kagome closed her eyes and tried to relax. She fidgeted on her bed, trying to get comfortable underneath the blankets.

            "What did he say?" She asked in the same, quiet voice.

            Sango's shoulders dropped and stared into space.

            Kagome turned to her side on the bed to look directly at Sango. "Well?" She said. The cloth on her forehead dropped onto the bed.

            "He..." Sango started, and her voice trailed off into silence as it got raspy. She leaned in and picked up the cloth, and dipped it in the tub of water again. When she looked at Kagome, she was blinking at her anxiously and curiously. She cleared her throat and tried again. "He--"

            "Did he ask you to take him back? Or was it somewhere along those lines?" Kagome asked, finally lying down on the bed comfortably.

            Sango leaned back against the chair. "Sort of...the reason why he broke up with me in the first place was...because he said he met up with an old girlfriend and they decided to get back together. But when she left again, he called me back and said it was a mistake...and stuff."

            Kagome looked pitifully at Sango. She really did feel bad for her; Sango was always a poor victim between love triangles. She didn't know one guy whom Sango had dated who didn't leave her for another girl. She knew how her best friend however, Sango was always like a third wheel between her boyfriends.

            "I'd stay single if I were you. Just take a break from all this." Kagome said in comfort.

            Sango put on a fake smile and shrugged her smile. "Enough about me," she added in a too-cheerful tone. "What about Inuyasha, what's happening with him? How was your day yesterday after meeting him for the first time in...well, years?"

            Kagome leaned her head back against her pillow and closed her eyes for a while. She opened them again to stare at her plain, white ceiling. It was then when she realized that she should get her ceiling wallpapered.

            "Well? How was it?" Sango asked.

            "He didn't change a bit...he's so rude and has no respect for other people. Yesterday, I caught him telling off some other gangsters in front of my restaurant! He was picking a fight with them. Then, after, he was yelling at me in my office from across the street, and he flipped the finger at me. After I got off the phone with you yesterday, he barged into my office without knocking, and started yelling at me about how stupid his job is. Then he..." Kagome stopped, suddenly remembering why she had dreaded going to work this morning.

            "Then he...?" Sango said, making a motion with her hand for her to go on.

            "Then...he said I'm bossy and bitchy...and maybe if I took the time to realize why my friends hated me so much..." Kagome's eyes trembled and she pulled the blanket over her face.

            "Kagome, don't take what he said so seriously," Sango said, pulling the blanket down again. "It's Inuyasha, remember? You're his boss now! Why are you letting him have control over you? You should have control over him!"

            "Yeah, but--"

            "Get revenge on him for what he did to you long time ago. Blackmail him into doing all these stupid stuff." Sango goaded, with a grin on her face.

            "Yeah, but I already--"

            "Or," Sango said, putting a finger in front of her face for Kagome to be quiet. "Make him fall in love with you."

            "WHAT?!" Kagome screamed, suddenly sitting up on her bed. She looked at Sango as if she was a person who escaped from the mental institution, with widened eyes. "Excuse me? What did--you just--in love with me?!"

            "Yeah!" Her best friend said, nodding excitedly. "Make him fall in love with you. Then, break his heart! Ruin his life, make him miserable--just the way he made you feel." She said, slapping her fist on her open hand.

            "But Sango, that's cruel!" Kagome replied.

            "Inuyasha was cruel when he did all those things. Did he stop to take the time and think how all the things he did would make *you* feel? No, he didn't. So why should you?" Sango asked.

            Kagome's cheeks turned into a bright, deep color of crimson as she looked down and played around with her blankets with her hands. "A-And...a-and even if I wanted to make him fall in love with me, how would I do it?"

            Sango put a finger on her chin and looked at the ceiling to purposely look like she was thinking. "Hmm..." She mumbled. "You can act super-nice around him, even when he's being unbearably mean. Smile a lot at him, and wear sexy clothing...all those business-looking clothes will have to go." Sango said. She stood up and opened the door to Kagome's closet. She started to throw clothes out of the closet onto her bed.

            "H-hey, wait! What are you doing, Sango?!" Kagome exclaimed.

            "I'm choosing out the clothes you're going to be wearing for this week...hmm, this shirt's a bit too kiddish..." Sango said, digging through her closet.

            "Sango, I'm not doing it! It's childish and immature!" Kagome argued.

            "Do you honestly think Inuyasha will be hurt that badly when he finds out you don't love him back? He's a player kind of guy. C'mon, Kagome, it's the perfect revenge and it won't hurt him as much as it would to a normal guy. He'll get over it quick, trust me." Sango reassured, throwing a pair of jeans onto the bed.

            Kagome sighed. She had forgotten that all of the craziness in her life was always caused by Sango.

            ~~~~

            "So...why did they have to come again?" Kagome asked, hiding behind her huge, black sunglasses.

            "My aunt and her business partner came by my house...and I have to take her son and her business partner's daugher along with us because they don't feel like discussing work over a group of 14-year-old teenagers whose going to be glaring at them every 5 seconds," Sango reminded, stopping in front of a shop and looking at a pair of black jeans.

            "Um...so you're Hakudoushi, right? I think I saw you as a little 3-month-old baby when I came over Sango's house once back when I was only...um, 13..." Kagome asked nervously with a smile. She rolled her eyes with her forced smile still on her face when the long, silver-haired boy didn't reply.

            "His nickname as a little baby was Akago, isn't that funny?" Sango chuckled to herself, as she moved on to look at a jean skirt.

            Hakudoushi didn't budge, but continued to look callous.

            "I didn't choose to spend my time with two adults who act like they're still children, giggling over clothes." Hakudoushi said in an emotionless tone.

            "Uh--right, then..." Kagome said. She was starting to get freaked out by this boy.

            "Oh my God! Kanna, come here, I think those white pants will match you perfectly!" Sango exclaimed, grabbing onto the 14-year-old girl's hand and running into the store. Kagome ran in after her, not wanting to be left behind with Hakudoushi.

            "Here, buy these," Sango said, throwing a jean skirt at Kagome. Kagome stopped running when the skirt was thrown into her face. She gasped when she saw it. It was at least four or five inches short.

            "I am *not* wearing this! What is this, an underwear made of jean material?" Kagome shouted.

            "Just trust me, Kagome," Sango said, and winked. "Now, Kanna..." She said, turning her back on her.

            Kagome growled and walked up to the cashier and threw the skirt down onto the counter.

            "That'll be $25.80, miss." A young, blonde cashier said, chewing on her bubble gum with her three earrings per ear dangling as she moved to insert the bill that Kagome gave her in the cashier. She bent down, and when she did, Kagome gasped. Behind the cashier, she saw Inuyasha and Miroku snickering and pointing at the cashier.

            "Um--I--uh--" Kagome stammered. The cashier stood back up with a bag, and put the jean skirt into it.

            "Thank you for shopping at Kaye's, have a nice day." She said in a bored, casual voice. Kagome took the bag and immediately ran towards Sango.

            "Sango, Sango! We have to leave *right* now!" Kagome cried urgently.

            "Why?" Sango asked, turning around from looking at a rack of white clothes. Kanna was looking through them furiously, but with a calm look on her face.

            "Inuyasha is here! In this store!" Kagome said, using finger motions to explain.

            "So?" Sango said, unconcerned. She turned back to Kanna, in which Kagome grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.

            "What?!" She said in irritation.

            "We're leaving, Sango, right now!" Kagome said. She took Sango by the hand, who grabbed Kanna's, and the three of them walked quickly out of the store, and Kagome walked fast and hoped not to get spotted--

            "Hey, Higurashi!" Inuyasha's voice called.

            Kagome froze in motion while Sango took her hand off of Kagome's and whipped around.

            "Shouldn't you be at home, resting from that car crash? Or are you just making up excuses to get off work?" Inuyasha sneered, coming up to them with Miroku tagging behind him.

            "For your information, I'm just--picking up clothes for my niece!" Kagome lied, holding up the Kaye's bag to prove it.

            "What, at Kaye's? That's the store where slutty people buy their clothes, and speaking of sluts..." Inuyasha's eyes moved from head to toe at Sango's outfit; a black blouse with see-through features at the bottom of the shirt, a short skirt, and heavy black platform boots. "What the *hell* are you wearing? That's not even like, hot slutty, that's just like poser-slutty..."

            "I don't have to listen to this," Kagome mumbled. "And why aren't *you* at work?" She asked, and looked at her watch on her wrist.

            "Today's Sunday. I don't work on Sundays, that information sheet thing said so." Inuyasha answered.

            "Whatever. I'd rather not waste my Sunday talking to *you*. C'mon, Sango--"

            "Sango?" Inuyasha repeated, with a sly grin on his face. "Right, it's you, the half-Chinese chick who followed Kagome everywhere! Her so-called 'friend', but we know the truth...we sort of *caught* it on tape, if you know what I mean..."

            Miroku smirked.

            Sango scowled. Before Kagome knew what happened, Sango had stepped up towards him and swiped him hard across his face with her hand.

            "First of all, the half-Chinese girl was not me. And second, you didn't catch anyone on tape who hated Kagome. You lied to them that you were making some 'movie' and they didn't even know about it! They didn't really hate Kagome, you bastard!" Sango shouted angrily.

            Some of the people in the mall passed by and stared at them with frowns, while Miroku stood dumbfounded. Sango's hand was burning, although she didn't look like she didn't seem to care. Kanna looked at the situtation in front of her with widened eyes, while Kagome blinked in disbelief. However, Inuyasha looked calm but was glaring at Sango with the most dangerous look he could look at anyone with.

            "I'm going to pretend you didn't just do that, you bitch," he growled. He nodded to Miroku, and the two of them walked away, as they continued their mutters of, 'How dare she', and 'I'll get her back...'

            "Oh my God, Sango! Why did you do that? It's just more the reason why I don't want to go back to work tomorrow and see him!" Kagome exclaimed hysterically.

            "I'm not so worried about that right now...the most cruel way to hurt someone is to entirely break their heart...and I hope Inuyasha becomes obsessed with you and you just *crush* him, because I want to run up to that bastard and break his legs off for what he *dares* to say in front of me!" Sango scowled, and walked past her, hand-in-hand with Kanna who still looked shocked. Hakudoushi came up to them, looking unconcerned at what just happened and followed behind Sango and Kanna.

            ~~~~

            Kagome groaned as she slammed her office door open and stepped inside, ignoring Kagura's constant shouts for her name. She felt uncomfortable in these clothes that Sango chose for her, and she didn't even want to go with the plan anyway. This whole revenge thing to get Inuyasha to fall in love with her--Kagome knew it was ridiculous. That boy was callous and his heart was made of ice. There was nothing under that layer of his frozen heart. Deep beneath his heart was nothing but an emotionless core, like an impossible electric barrier. Trying to make him fall in love with anyone was like trying to stop a tornado.

            "Ma'am, ma'am, while you were gone, the sales stock--"

            "Kagura, *please* leave me alone..." Kagome moaned and slapped her head onto her desk.

            "But ma'am, I've never seen such a decrease--"

            "Please?"

            "But this is important--"

            "I'm begging you!" Kagome pleaded, in a babyish voice.

            Kagura flinched at the tone of her voice; her boss had never sounded so tired or pleading. Without saying a word, she nodded hesitantly and stepped out of her office, giving her one last look before she left.

            "Ohhh..." Kagome groaned again, burying her head in her arms. She was going to lock herself in her office and not come out until it was time to go home. She was going to just do some paperwork, and not see Inuyasha for the whole day...then tomorrow, their deal would be off. Inuyasha was free to be a service worker, and hopefully by then the fire that she saw in him yesterday would have cooled down. She couldn't believe she was actually scared of him, like she always was, like she used to. This ridiculous fear of that silver-haired bully...she clenched her hand into a fist.

            "I hate him," Kagome muttered. She felt sure that no one was in her office but her, but when she rose her head up, she saw Hojo standing near the doorway.

            "You weren't talking about me, were you?" Hojo joked, and laughed.

            "Hojo! I--what are you doing here?" Kagome exclaimed, immediately standing up.

            "Well, I just thought I'd visit, you know, because you told me you worked here and--"

            "How did you get past my secretary?" Kagome asked curiously. She really wanted to know how. No one got past Kagura at anything.

            "Oh, I didn't see anyone, and I just assumed that your office would be upstairs." Hojo answered.

            Kagome sighed and sat down on her chair, and threw her head back.

            "Are you alright?" He asked.

            "Yeah, just a little stressed out..."

            Hojo walked towards her around the desk, and stood beside her. "Are you dizzy? Should I call--?"

            "No, no, I'm fine..." Kagome shook her head slightly and stood up. "Anyway, what do you need, Hojo?" She asked, facing him.

            "Well," he started, and flushed. "I just wondered, if you have a break or anything, if--"

            His voice was cut off by an interruption. The door slammed open unexpectedly and Hojo, who was obviously started, jumped in surprise.

            "Hey," Inuyasha's voice said loudly. "Who the hell is this guy?"

            ~~~~

            **A/n:** I will give out free Inuyasha socks to whoever proves to me that they saw that one coming ^_~


	4. Toxic Emotions

**THE BULLY AND THE BOSS**

****

**A/n:** You know what I hate? Slow computers. All this time, I was using a 'borrowed' Windows XP computer. But it's gone and I'm stuck with my crummy old one! I can't even watch my downloaded anime now because it's literally so slow. I hate it! But one good thing is that this piece of crap actually works...I'd go beserk without a computer. I need the computer like underweight people desperately need weight. I don't want any one of you to go through the pain I'm going through of a slow, crappy computer.

****

**Chapter Four **

**Toxic Emotions**

Silence fell among the room as Inuyasha came in and had a perplexing look on his face, with his eyebrows raised.

"Who is this guy?" He repeated.

Kagome looked at him, and then at Hojo. She shook her head as if it wasn't important, and stacked her paper files neatly. "What do you want, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha, with the same uncanny expression on his face, looked at Hojo from head to toe. His face was screwed up like he knew Hojo was familiar, and he was trying to recognize him but couldn't.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped, standing up abruptly. "What do you want? Your shift doesn't end for another..." She looked at the clock attached to the wall beside her. "...hour or so!"

"Yeah, I know, that's sorta what I wanted to talk to you about." Inuyasha took off the head of the costume and tossed it aside. Hojo made a noise in what sounded like something between a gasp and a 'huh?'.

"Hey, you're--" Hojo started. He looked at Inuyasha more observantly and whispered a quiet 'oh' before he looked away from him and at Kagome, with a "What's-going-on-here?" stare. Kagome suddenly felt dizziness, and accidentally lost balance and unintentionally sat down on her chair. Hojo or Inuyasha didn't seem to notice that she had lost her balance.

Inuyasha seemed obviously confused, and it was more obvious to know that he didn't recognize Hojo at all. He didn't even seem too concerned about who he was anymore, because he took a deep breath and asked, "I'm getting off my shift early. You better find someone else to replace me, or actually, you don't have to at all because you don't need an advertiser anyway. Your restaurant is already popular, and my singing and the costume is only driving people away."

Inuyasha's voice became impervious to Kagome's hearing, because she wasn't even looking up at him. She was organizing her papers into the drawers of her desk.

"Hojo, maybe you should leave. I'm kind of busy right now." Kagome said.

"Oh, alright, maybe I can come back tomorrow." Hojo answered with a hint of desperation.

"No, I'm busy tomorrow too. Hojo, please just go, I'm kind of feeling stressed--"

"What? Are you dizzy, do you need to go to the--"

"No! Hojo, please, just--"

When Inuyasha cleared his throat in annoyance, Kagome raised her head up and looked at him with an impatient look.

"What?!" She flared.

Kagome's tone didn't do much good but anger Inuyasha. He took off his gloves and tossed them aside beside the costume's head.

"I'm getting off early, nothing you could do about it. Don't bother arguing back because you know I'll win. It'll save both our breath, our time, and our--"

"You're not getting off early! What reason--?"

"Mind your own business," Inuyasha spoke in a dangerous, snarling tonality.

"You can't just come in here and demand things," Kagome talked back. She felt agitated enough at the fact that Hojo wouldn't leave her alone, but this was just making her day worse. "I'm your boss, and I am in a higher position than you are. Don't you dare think you can get your way here! I am sick and tired of you always thinking you can do whatever you want, regardless of the consequences the situation might have!"

Hojo was staggering, as if wondering what to do or say. He looked at the two of them in puzzlement.

"Don't sit there looking distracted and give me a lecture. I didn't come up here to be bitched at. You know that at first I said it nicely as I could, and you weren't even paying attention! You know, speaking of you and your 'negative qualities'--" Inuyasha made the bunny ears with his fingers as he spoke, "--you strutted around years back, thinking you were so cool and popular. You acted like you had everything under control, like it was you who was the leader of things, and you that would always be the idol whom other people would look up to. Well, guess what? You're not. People these days don't care for those kinds of suck-ups. Here is you, trying to act like a moderate business woman telling off her staff, bitching at them, and shrieking at her secretary 24/7--"

"I only did one thing out of all of the ones you listed. It's bitching at you, and you're the one that forces me to! It's you who struts around acting cool and popular, like you own every single place your foot steps on. You expect everyone to kiss and praise the filthiness you leave on the ground you walk on!" Kagome shouted, standing up. The dizziness returned again when she stood up, but she was feeling so angry that she decided to ignore it.

"I know you think that deep inside too. You want people to worship the ground you walk on out of the good things you try to do. You're nothing but a poser. You want people to think the best of you, and you try to make other people feel lower than you, like you are now, by telling me that you're my boss and I can't demand things. Citizens demand things through protest against the mayor, and protestings and strikes actually got them what they wanted. You're nothing but a low bitch yourself, so stop thinking that others are lower than you! You're pethatic; I hope more people realize it when the time comes." Inuyasha said.

He seemed breathless after the long conversation. He unclipped the front of his costume and let it drop on the floor. "I know you ordered this costume to make me feel pathetic and fucked up. You're not a very good person as you thought you were if you intended to make me feel like that."

Kagome felt something stab the inside of her as Inuyasha finished, as if something he said had stabbed the most sensitive part of her body and instead of blood oozing out, it was tears from her eyes. She tried to force them to stay inside, but she couldn't. They blinded her sight in blurriness as her arms were draped tightly over her stomach and looked down. She didn't want to cry like this in front of Inuyasha. She knew it would only satisfy his anger, but she couldn't help it. Kagome felt like she couldn't control the way she was feeling right now. She felt numb. That was all she felt.

At this reaction, Inuyasha was stunned. His eyes had widened with his lips slightly parted. He had expected Kagome to just feel like she couldn't say anything back, to sit down and not look at him in defeat. But this, he felt, was too much. There was a small spark inside him that felt odd and abnormal; he felt guilty. Flashbacks of Kagome bawling her eyes out as she walked home with him and his friends telling her off and spitting spitballs in her hair formed in his head. Here was 19-year-old Kagome Higurashi, a legal adult, sitting in her office in her business clothes; sobbing like a 13-year-old preteen girl.

"Kagome, should I--?" Hojo started.

"No! Just go, Hojo, please! Just leave me alone!" Kagome said, choking in her tears. She hid her face in her arms, and Inuyasha thought she was doing a pathetic attempt to hide her crying.

"But maybe I could--"

"Hojo! Just leave!"

"Kagome, no! I won't leave you when you're feeling distressed like this. Listen, I'll--"

"I can't take this anymore," Kagome sobbed softly. She sat down on her chair and buried her face in her arms. "Please, I'm begging you, leave. Go away..."

"Don't say that, you need someone here."

"I need to be alone!" Kagome raised her head up to reveal her puffy, teary eyes. Inuyasha had never in his life seen someone cry so much. He also was starting to feel irritated with Hojo. Who the hell did that when someone was practically pleading them on their knees to leave them alone? Obviously, this guy had no clue.

"Kagome, here, I can take you home if you want." Hojo offered.

Kagome sighed out deeply, and at first, Inuyasha thought she was actually going to accept. She leaned down and pressed a button on her business-looking telephone and spoke into the intercom, "Kagura, will you please come into my office?"

"Sure, ma'am, be right there." Kagura's static voice replied.

Kagome stood up straight and looked at the ceiling, trying to take control of her tears. She wiped them with her hands and Inuyasha wanted to mutter an apology at that moment, but found it quite hard to speak with Hojo standing beside her, with a clueless, dumb look.

"Kagome," Hojo spoke again. "Do you need anything?"

Kagome didn't speak. She remained in her standing position with her arms drooping over her stomach. Her head was facing the ceiling, but her eyes were closed.

"Ma'am?" Kagura said as she came in. "Did you--"

"Please, kindly escort this man out of my restaurant. Don't let him come back inside." Kagome ordered.

"What?" Hojo said in the tone that he misunderstood what she had just said.

"Um...alright, ma'am. Sir, if you could step out of the office, please?" Kagura said, motioning for Hojo to walk towards the door with her clipboard.

"But Kagome--"

"Sir!" Kagura yelled. "Please, step out of the office or I will have to call security."

Inuyasha snorted as if refraining himself from snickering. "This place has security? Man, what they do with the economy these days..." He muttered, shaking his head slightly. This was only an excuse for him to look at Kagome from the corner of his eye. Kagome was just looking at Kagura trying to convince Hojo to get out. Her tears seemed to be settling down.

Hojo was left with no choice. Without looking at Kagome, he followed Kagura out of the office, and the door was closed, leaving Inuyasha and Kagome alone in the room.

Inuyasha felt awkward. He wanted to leave, but his feet didn't seem like they wanted to move. Kagome put her head down and covered her face with her hand.

"You're excused from work," she muttered silently.

"What?" Inuyasha said.

"I said you're excused!" Kagome repeated sharply. She turned around and walked over to the large window behind her desk, and opened the window. She breathed in deeply and poked her head out of the window.

Without saying anything else, Inuyasha turned around and left. He closed the door behind him. He heard a sob coming from inside the room, which annoyed him.

'Damn woman,' Inuyasha thought. Okay, should he go back and say sorry? No, that sounded lame...maybe an 'I apologize'? No, that sounded even lamer...

'Although I still consider you my enemy, I take back what I said...yeah, that's good.' Inuyasha thought. He turned around and placed his hand on the doorknob, turning it slowly and poked his head inside the office. Strangely, Kagome wasn't in there.

"Hey, woman, you in here?" Inuyasha called, as he stepped inside the office. "Hellooo?" He said.

Inuyasha looked around and grumbled. Unless Kagome jumped out the window, he couldn't see how she got out. There was no other way to exit the office. When he looked around the desk, his eyes widened in shock when he saw Kagome's body lying on the floor.

"Hey, woman! Wake up, you shouldn't be sleeping on the job," Inuyasha said, but somehow he knew Kagome wasn't just sleeping. He was starting to panic. He didn't know what to do when someone was unconscious--something about breathing into them, but he sort of had a feeling that what he was thinking of wasn't supposed to be done for this type of thing.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome's complicated telephone and became confused with all the buttons. 'How the hell do you work this?' He thought furiously as he lifted up the phone and looked for that thing...that button that Kagome pressed earlier and spoke to Kagura through a speaker...

'Forget it,' he grumbled inside. He bent low and lifted up Kagome in his arms so that her head was resting on his arm. Inuyasha never carried people this way before, and it was really painful to carry people this way or Kagome was just way too heavy.

"Damn woman, fainting on me..." Inuyasha growled, as he struggled to open the door.

"Um, excuse me, but--who are you and what are you doing?"

The door burst open on its own and there stood a man in his late twenties, looking extremely frightened. Inuyasha blinked at him.

"Sir, please get out right now--or I'll have to call security, and leave Miss Higurashi! I'll call the police!" The man yelled.

"I'm not a kidnapper or a rapist, if you think I am. If I was, I'd go for better-looking targets than her, mind you. She fainted, and I work for her." Inuyasha said impatiently, hinting for this man to move. His arms were starting to get tired by Kagome's weight.

"What's going on here?" Kagura's preppy voice snapped. She had led Hojo out pretty quickly. She walked around the corner and was absolutely shocked. "Inuyasha--and Nanako! What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything!" The man, Nanako replied. "This man is trying to kidnap Miss Higurashi! Call the police! NOW!" He panicked.

"Nanako, this man works for Miss Higurashi, you idiot." Kagura scolded.

Inuyasha snickered quietly under his breath at the fact that Kagura called him a 'man'. He never did like to think he was like one of those old adults now...

"Move outta the way, she needs the friggin' hospital, and if you're gonna stand there and not let me through, I might as well just exit through that window and jump out of here," Inuyasha said, struggling now to just hold onto Kagome.

"Let me carry her--"

"Nanako, let Inuyasha. You can't even carry her clothes; you're a stick." Kagura said in a disgusted tone. Nanako stood aside without hesitating and when Inuyasha passed him, he thought Kagura had a point. This man, Nanako, didn't look like he surpassed 100 pounds at all. In fact, he looked so underweight that Inuyasha was able to see his jaw lines.

"What the hell happened?" Kagura asked in a deadly voice as she walked beside Inuyasha, stiffly holding onto her clipboard.

"I don't frickin' know!" Inuyasha spat. "I left her office, then I went back in and I found her fainted behind her desk!"

Kagura breathed out in a frustrated way, as she walked ahead of Inuyasha with her heels clicking on the hard floor. "I'm going to call the hospital," she said. "Just wait at the front doors." She took out her cell phone from her pocket and started dialing some numbers, and held it to her ear and went downstairs from Inuyasha's sight.

'Damn it, she's heavy!' Inuyasha thought, as he carefully stepped down the stairs, trying to look over Kagome in his arms at which steps he was at. He ignored the frowns and scowls he received from a few people, who had decided to lift their heads up and watch as Inuyasha carried the restaurant's manager outside.

"Alright you stupid woman...you did what you wanted...you made me look like a freak, so fucking snap out of it!" Inuyasha hissed, but Kagome's eyes remained closed. He sighed in impatience as he stood inside the glass entrance of the restaurant, and stared at her closed eyes. She was so much calmer and quieter when she was unconscious...her eyelashes were all separated and so perfect, and there was no trace of mascara. In fact, he couldn't see any hint of make-up on her face. He did have to admit, she was good-looking--but to his knowledge, he had never known or met women who looked beautiful without make-up.

Inuyasha shook his head and started to sputter and trip over words in his thoughts. Beautiful? Her? _Kagome Higurashi_, beautiful?

Before he continued with his thoughts, he heard the sound of a siren. When Inuyasha lifted up his head, a bright ambulance stopped right in front of the restaurant. Two men from the back of the ambulance came out with a stretcher.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up!" Kagura shouted behind him, and startled him and made him jump.

"I'm going, calm your horses, lady..." Inuyasha grumbled, and exited the building.

"Hurry up, can you be any slower?!" Kagura said.

"Just fucking take her!" Inuyasha said, almost throwing her onto the stretcher. The two men looked at him with sour expressions on their faces, and then returned to their work. They buckled Kagome up tightly against the stretcher, lifted it up, and pulled it into the back of the ambulance.

"Sir, please get in the ambulance," one of the men addressed, who was about to close the back doors.

"What?" Inuyasha said, raising his eyebrows.

"What relationship do you have to the woman?" The man asked again.

"He's her boyfriend! He found her in her office, unconscious." Kagura answered quickly. She pushed him closer to the ambulance and shouted, "Now, go!"

"Hurry up and get in, sir, or are you not coming?" The man questioned.

"Hell, no!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"He's in a bad mood today," Kagura said to the man. She came up behind Inuyasha and pinched his back as hard as she could, and although he did not wince, she knew he was hurting a bit. Scowling, Inuyasha got in the back of the ambulance and Kagura followed.

"Excuse me," the man interrupted. "What relation--"

"Secretary," she answered, and got in. She glared at the man and closed the doors shut, sighing in annoyance.

Inuyasha was feeling slightly irritated that he had to get involved in this, but he wasn't feeling like what Kagura was feeling. She acted as if someone fainting was an everyday-thing, and actually took it rather calmly for a pessimistic person like her.

The trip to the hospital was gruesome. Kagura was looking at her nails, and often looked up to throw Inuyasha a cold, callous look. The siren was hurting Inuyasha's ears. For half the trip to the hospital, Inuyasha watched the unconscious Kagome, tightly buckled up onto the stretcher. It was almost as if she was dead. Her skin was pale, and she didn't move an inch--only when the ambulance drove over a bumpy spot.

Inuyasha felt especially stupid when the ambulance stopped in front of the hospital doors, and the two same men opened the back doors and retrieved the stretcher. After they strolled it along inside the building, Kagura kept yelling at him to hurry up and to go faster. Along the way, he received cold looks from handicapped people who muttered to themselves about 'teenagers these days', and he was even told off by a nurse for being too disruptive.

The next thing was even more torture. Inuyasha was forced to wait in the large waiting room with Kagura, who kept acting every 5 seconds as if this whole thing was his fault. Elderly men and women walked past them to the exit, who had decided to wait somewhere else rather than just wait in the room and put up with their bickering.

Hours passed until a nurse came into the waiting room addressing Kagura and Inuyasha.

"I'm not her boyfriend," Inuyasha growled to the nurse, and Kagura threw him a dirty look. "I just work for her and I found her in her office unconscious. I don't know where her ditzy secretary came up with that."

"I'm sorry, nurse, he's just a bit cranky today--"

"Well, whatever relationship you have to the patient, you two are the ones who came with her, and I'm going to have to break the news to you..." The nurse looked at Kagura and looked down.

"Yes?" Kagura said, motioning with her hand for her to go on.

"Can I speak to you privately, please?" The nurse asked, giving Inuyasha an apologetic look as the two of them walked towards a corner.

Inuyasha watched them with the most impatient look he could manage. Kagura wasn't paying attention to him however; a shocked look spread across her face as she looked like she was about to burst into tears. The nurse kept muttering, "I know it's hard, I know it's hard" but he had no idea what the nurse was saying to her. Was Kagome going to die? Inuyasha felt guiltier--was he the cause of her death? Was she going to die because he had touched a nerve in her that caused her to go into some sort of depression and a coma...?

'Stop being retarded,' a voice said in his house. Inuyasha shook his head slightly. That other voice in his head was right--who the hell died from depression these days?

'So many teenagers,' another voice said. 'They commit suicide, you dolt. You sit and watch TV and watch those suicide commercials a hundred times a day and you can't even relate to reality...dumbass.'

Okay, now Inuyasha knew he was crazy. Two sides of him were arguing with each other.

"I can't believe it--that's horrible! If that happened to me, I'd just kill myself! Literally!" Kagura shrieked.

Inuyasha frowned. So Kagome wasn't gonna die--but something happened to her that women would rather die than having whatever happened to it...but whatever it was, it couldn't be that bad.

Ooookay. So here he was, sitting on a chair. Stuck in a hospital room, with Kagome sleeping on the bed. This day couldn't get any worse.

Kagura had decided to dump the job of watching after her to Inuyasha. She said she would call her family and go back to the restaurant after that, because if Kagome was conscious right now, she would want a decent person who was reliable to stay there to look after the restaurant. Inuyasha snorted when he listened as Kagura gloated about herself.

'Just great...a girl I used to bully became my boss like 2 or 3 days ago...then she bitches at me...then she faints...and I get stuck watching after her. What a great week this has been...' Inuyasha thought to himself. He buried his face in his hands and sighed.

Kagome stirred. Inuyasha jolted up as she slowly flickered her eyes open.

"What..." She moaned. Using her hands, she lifted her weight up to sit up on the bed. "What happened?" She mumbled, more to herself than to Inuyasha. He thought maybe perhaps Kagome didn't even know he was here.

"You fainted, and Kagura and I had to take you to the hospital," Inuyasha said.

Kagome indeed seemed startled to hear Inuyasha's voice. Her head whipped to the side as soon as she spoke, and she sighed in relief.

"Oh," she said. "It's just you."

She had touched a nerve.

"Just me?" Inuyasha exclaimed, and stood up. "_JUST ME_?! For the love of--honestly, you seriously want to make my life hell, don't you? Just because I bullied you, you want to get revenge! What do you want, an apology? I'm sorry! So stop making my life fucking hell!" He thundered, spreading his arms out wide.

Kagome blinked tiredly at him. "I don't even know _what_ you're talking about," she yawned.

"You--you--" Inuyasha stuttered. "You become my boss and decide to torture me with a gay-ass jingle to sing, along with the most retarded costume I have ever seen in my life. You get yourself fainted, and I had to carry you until the ambulance came, and these people in your stupid restaurant were looking at me like some sort of freak! I had Kagura shouting down my back and--"

"Wait..._you_ carried _me_ out of _my_ restaurant?" Kagome asked in disbelief, stopping at each word to stress the pronunciation.

"Well, yeah, it was either that or I had to carry you jumping out the window," Inuyasha said in an equally angry voice, rolling his eyes.

Kagome's face relaxed and a smile spread across her face. "That was nice of you," she thanked quietly, looking at him with her smile.

"What--I--Kagura forced me to! Do you know how loud that girl is?" Inuyasha said quickly, making up an excuse. Since when did Kagome act all hearty and nice with him? Did she forget what he had done before she fainted?

"What's going on here?" A male doctor entered the room with a clipboard in his hand. Inuyasha was too familiar with professional-looking people holding clipboards, as Kagura had one under her arm every day.

"Nothing," Kagome and Inuyasha both answered in unison.

"I heard shouting in here...Mr. Herik-Jikradi; I must ask of you to try to not stress out Miss. Higurashi...she's under a heavy layer of stress, as our test results showed. I'm sure the nurse told that other woman who accompanied you the news...of what caused you to faint today, Miss. Higurashi." The doctor said, fixing his large, oval-shaped glasses.

"Yes, I think so," Kagome answered.

The doctor sighed and turned to Inuyasha. "Sir, I'd have to ask you to step out of the room for just a moment, I have to tell Miss. Higurashi the news. You will be able to know later, but now is her time to know." He said.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and shrugged. Without saying anything, he left the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the wall beside the door, and tried to make out the words the doctor was saying. He couldn't hear, but he could hear the doctor mumbling in a very serious voice.

"Sorry...what?!!"

Inuyasha jumped when he heard Kagome scream. He leaned his ear against the door, but he still couldn't hear. He could only hear Kagome's frantic shouts--

"No, you're lying! YOU'RE LYING!"

"Miss. Higurashi, please calm down--"

"Calm--calm down--would you calm down if you received news like that!?!"

"Strictly speaking, miss, that can't exactly happen to me because I'm--"

"You're lying, okay?! This is just the thing you expect from a crappy hospital!"

Feeling Inuyasha could bear it in no longer; he opened the door and stepped in. He was surprised to find Kagome out of her bed. Her face was almost red in tears, and the doctor was doing his best to try to calm her down.

Kagome stopped crying and shouting when Inuyasha came in, although she still looked at him with that miserable, teary face.

For the whole week, Inuyasha never found out what happened to Kagome. He continued to go back to work and no longer worked as an advertiser, or a service worker--Kagome allowed him to be the secretary assistant. Inuyasha made a comment ["Is she on crack or something?"] that made Kagura hit him on the back of his head.

Inuyasha undoubtly sucked at secretary work. He had no idea how to properly do things on the computer, or even work their 900-button telephone properly--so Kagura just made him his 'servant' by doing things like hanging her coat on the rack, cleaning up the room to make sure it was nice and tidy, etc. It was better than going outside and wearing a stupid costume and singing a stupid kids' commercial song. In the end, he ended up getting almost the exact payment that he got as an advertiser.

Kagome came back to work each and every morning looking tired and depressed. She locked herself in her office when she came in the morning, and quietly slipped out when it was time to go home without managing to see either Kagura or Inuyasha.

To be honest, Inuyasha actually liked it less when Kagome was around. This was what he originally just wanted to do--a simple job that he received a fair pay in, without having to go home with a headache that night. Not seeing Kagome made what he wanted at first actually happen, though it virtually seemed impossible during the first couple of days when he was hired.

It was another casual morning, Kagura bossing Inuyasha all the time as every other day...

"Inuyasha, get me the newspaper," She said, as she furiously typed on the keyboard and watched the screen through her spectacles.

Inuyasha moaned and picked up the stack of newspaper, and threw it onto Kagura's desk. "Here," he muttered.

Kagura unglued her eyes from the screen and looked through the paper. "Junk, junk, crap, trash, junk..." She mumbled, as she sorted through the papers. Then, suddenly without warning, she gasped.

"Oh--my--God." She said, lifting up a flyer. "Omigod, omigod, omigod--win a trip to Canada to meet Kikyou personally--"

"Who the hell--oh, Kikyou! You mean Kikyou Shikon, that woman who makes it seem like she really has no life, even with a bunch of cash by her side?" Inuyasha asked, opening the curtains and letting the sunlight in.

"Maybe to you, but she is a model of intelligence to us females. She writes amazing poetry, and she's been through so many experiences that she doesn't mind sharing with the public. Kikyou Shikon...she is the most astonishing female role model there are for young female children and teens...how I'd love to meet her..." Kagura sighed, eyeing the flyer.

"Then, why don't you enter?" Inuyasha said as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

"No, I'd rather not. Do you know how many hearts and souls Kikyou touch with her poetry and songs? Everyone would kill to just be able to have an actual photo of her. I'd rather not clash other peoples' chances of winning." Kagura answered, placing the flyer on her desk.

"What good motives," Inuyasha spoke sarcastically, and opened the window.

"Yes, it's what Kikyou inspires." Kagura said, and smiled.

With that, she went back to typing on her keyboard and eyeing the screen very carefully.

Inuyasha thought he had weird obsessions...who honestly these days would kill to have an actual photo of a poet and a singer who barely showed any of their skin in music videos? Actually, he never once watched a music video on the music channel that he watched--they dumped her music on the Women's Spiritual channel. It was rather lame, in his opinion.

"I know," Kagura said. "I'll enter Miss. Higurashi in this."

"What? But wouldn't you rather--"

"Yes, but Miss has been in a bad mood these days...and I can understand why." Kagura said, suddenly becoming murky in her own tone. "I know the chances of winning are very low, but it doesn't hurt to try. Besides, I don't even think she's gonna win. And if she's not gonna win; I'm not going to because we have the same chances."

"What if she does win?" Inuyasha asked, thinking Kagura was doing something majorly stupid.

"Then she has a lifetime debt to me," Kagura said, with a grin forming across her face. She picked up the flyer and her casual grin turned into a sly one. "Let's see...the site is www.kikyousikon.com [it's not a real site, by the way...you can try it if you want, though =P]...here it is. Contest rules...contest enter page...oh shoot, I have to fill out a whole information page...but that's okay..." Kagura mumbled to herself, typing onto the keyboard.

"Yeah, watch them announce the winner next week and it turns out to be Kagome," Inuyasha scoffed, shaking his head.

"Let's see. 'Kikyou Shikon is currently touring in Canada, and if you win, you will be taken to the city of Toronto where her next concert is scheduled. You will get front row seats and will be allowed to go backstage after the concert. Each of you will receive a $1000 shopping spree gift certificate at any chosen mall in Toronto.' Wait...'each' of you?" Kagura said confused. She scrolled back up and replied, "Ohh..."

"What?" Inuyasha said.

"The winner gets to bring one friend," Kagura spoke. "That's good, if Miss Higurashi wins, she can take me as a favor of entering her."

"She won't win, trust me."

"Yeah?" Kagura smirked. "Well, you never know."

But behind the determined tone, was hidden doubt.

**A/n**: Blegh! I think I rushed the scenes in this chapter too fast. But all in all...I basically just wrapped up the boring part of the story in one chapter...I think you'll know what happens in the next chapter, but you sort of won't know... ;)


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